Where Do We Go From Here?

A few days ago I watched a History Channel show on Rogue Waves. Basically, these are waves which can come out of nowhere and are at least twice as large as any other wave in the set. Often these waves are three and four times larger than anything in the area - and they can even pop up on calm seas. Apparently for a long time rogue waves were reported, but considered to be the excuses a drunk captain came up with to avoid the truth of his ineptitude...until people started catching them on camera. Waves of over 100 feet have been filmed, smashing into and completely destroying huge tanker ships and even oil platforms.

There’s a growing suspicion that these waves are particularly prevalent, and provide partial explanation for the strange disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle.

I was fascinated.

It wasn’t until the next morning that it struck me why these rogue waves captured my imagination. They are a perfect metaphor for the last several years of my family’s life. There have been storms, to be sure - even some that we were not sure we would survive. However, it wasn’t the storms that were the source of our anxiety, it was the random rogue waves which always seemed to come along in the calm seas after the storm had “passed.”

Our latest rogue wave came in the form of a series of disconnected (but utterly connected) bad tidings regarding finances. Without going into the boring details, I should be panicked right now...or selling a kidney. But what has been very perplexing is that I’m not. I realize the seriousness of the situation. I’m doing what I can to address it and “avoid the rocks” (in sticking with the maritime metaphor).

But I’m not panicking.

This baffles me. Why am I not a blubbering mess?!

At first I was afraid it meant I’d finally had a mental breakdown...the part of my brain controlling the self-preservation instinct had just dissolved or something. But, if that were the case (and yes, I seriously considered it enough that I had to actually rule it out), I wouldn’t be trying to do something about the situation.

I quickly ruled out both super-faith and Pollyanna-like naiveté. My faith in the face of risk has certainly matured, but I’m still plagued by doubt. My current lack of fear doesn’t stem from a confidence that “everything will be okay, because God won’t let the monster get us.” I have several years of empirical evidence to suggest that God is most certainly faithful and compassionate, but I do not take deliverance and rescue for granted. 

Bad things still happen in this world, and it will continue to be so until Jesus finally and fully establishes the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. I can’t be so arrogant as to think God will keep all the monsters at bay, because there are too many people in this world that get eaten...and I am no more precious to our Lord than they. (Which is not at all to say that neither they nor I are precious to God.)

The other night, as we had this very conversation, a friend asked, “Are you just numb?” I could only respond, “Well...maybe.”

But I don’t really think that’s it either.

I think - and I hold this belief with humility, knowing that tomorrow it could look differently - that I’m just getting a bit peace in the midst of the storm. The storm is real; the chaos - like the fiery furnace that three Jewish boys stood before - is threatening. And from somewhere I’m being given the strength to respond, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from [this threat]. But even if he does not...”

I don’t know that this is a test...and if it is, I don’t know that we’ll be delivered at the 11th hour for our faithfulness. But even if we are not, we will not bow down to the idol of fear. 

I don’t want to oversell it. There are too many people who love us for me to believe that my children will ever be truly hungry...there will be a place for them to sleep in peace. Perhaps that’s a source of peace as well. In the book God’s Economy, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove speaks to the wisdom of investing in relationships over financial security...perhaps for this very reason. Jobs have a tendency to go away, bank accounts seem to dry up. People who love you are much more valuable.

So, back to the title of this post: where do we go from here?

We’ve done what we can to streamline the budget, now we have a few short-term, a few mid-range and a few long-term plans.

For right now, here’s where we go.

Communitas

Over the last few years, I’ve been developing this six month process for groups (congregations, small groups, house churches, bible classes...or just a gathering of friends ready to move forward together). My doctor of ministry project (which is currently over half-way through the action phase) is focused on one particular aspect of the Communitas experience.

Communitas, which means a deep experience of community which is formed through a shared struggle, ordeal or common mission, combines online learning and dialog, with spiritual formation in community and practical engagement in missional life right where you are. Unlike other processes which either stress classroom learning or provide manufactured “practice” experiences, Communitas guides participants to begin learning what it means to live missionally by...well, living missionally.

I hadn’t planned to make Communitas available “to the public” until January. I was told pointedly this past week, “What are you waiting for?”

Message received. If you have a group of friends, a study group or an entire congregation that may be interested in this transformational experience, send me a message and we can talk more.

Seminar in Missional Living

In addition to the six month process, I’ve also developed a one-day seminar that can be hosted with your church or group in which we’ll address some of the basic biblical and practical concepts which can ignite the missional imagination.

This seminar can be incorporated into a church retreat - or even expanded to serve as the entire retreat focus - with very little advanced warning. This isn’t just an academic endeavor for me, its an orientation to faith that I live and breathe - if you need someone there this weekend, just give me directions.

Interim or “Relief” Preaching

I love my church family. One of the most endearing qualities of this group of people is a genuine concern for people over programs. Rather than just being willing to press on without me if I’m invited to speak somewhere on a Sunday, these folks are willing to find other ways and times to get together.

If your church is in a period of transition between preachers, I am available to preach on Sundays or Wednesdays - for one week or several, whatever fits your circumstances. I’m also happy to fill in for the preacher who just needs a week off - whether its for an out-of-town trip or an out-of-pulpit respite.

If your church is in or around the DFW metroplex I’d be happy to come spend time and share the good news of God’s kingdom with you.

We also have several other things in the works which we believe will cultivate a more sustainable rhythm for our family and ministry. Some of these should come into fruition in the next six to nine months, some over the course of the next couple years. This post is already too long to get into them all...but maybe I’ll post some further thoughts in the next few days. 

The final piece I want to mention in this post is: 
Support for Church Planting.

Just in the past couple months we’ve launched out with our new church planting effort, The Gathering: Burleson. We have a fundraising newsletter that we’ve put together with more information about our work in this area, and we would love to tell you more if you’re interested in partnering with us. We’re grateful for the community of friends who’ve supported us over the last few years, and we’re praying that God will raise up a few more to get us through the wilderness and into (we hope and pray and hope and pray) Canaan, soon.

If you would like any further information on Communitas, the Seminar in Missional Living, Interim Preaching availability or supporting our church planting work with The Gathering, please don’t hesitate to email, post a reply or just yell really loud.

bret@missionalmonks.com

In the News: Zombies will Eat Grandma's Brains at 3 am

And if you don't forward this to 10 people you don't love Jesus and you'll get head lice.

I rarely talk politics.

There are plenty reasons why. For instance, when I want to go around in circles spouting the latest catch phrases from the left or right, I simply play with my children. Their conversation is usually more intellectually stimulating anyway.

I have about as much faith in the current two-party, line-up-across-from-each-other-and-fire-regardless-of-what-we’re-talking-about system as I do in my current business plan of winning the lottery.

Also, what is there to talk about? We have 24 hour news stations covering both Republican and Democratic propaganda - what good will it do for me to weigh in?

And, to be honest, I think that political discourse is nice, but I’m busy with my (not-so) subtle ploys to subvert the empire in other ways.

I don’t trust either of our major political parties. I think both have their own interests at heart and typically those interests only line up with the common good when the common good happens to benefit the party’s interest. 

I don’t trust what politicians say and I trust political talk show/talk radio personalities even less. Unfortunately, I seem to be in the minority...at least among people who have my email address.

And I am unbelievably tired of deleting forwards. I’ve never liked them and to be honest I rarely read them. I find fishermen’s tales to be more factually accurate than the majority of “true stories heard on the news” which are constantly rotting in my inbox.

I do, however, love Snopes.com - I wish more people who enjoy sending ridiculous fear-mongering email forwards would learn to love Snopes.com as well. If you feel strongly enough about an issue to send to it to 100 people in your distribution list...please feel strongly enough to find out if its true. Just because the email begins with, "this was on the news" doesn't mean it was on the news. 

If you don’t have time to check the facts, don’t feel too bad, apparently the news media doesn’t either. But, since they’re already (not) doing the work for you, why bother?

Lately I’ve been bombarded by the most horrendous “facts” about the healthcare reform bill. First of all THERE ISN’T A HEALTHCARE REFORM BILL YET!!! There are still 4 or 5 proposals floating around - and to my knowledge none of them mention the President killing your grandmother. However, we’ve all been asked to ponder what’s gonna happen when he answers the phone at 3am...maybe he’ll get cranky and take out his frustrations on an elderly woman who makes good cookies, I don’t know.

This may be a bit harsh - in retrospect I probably should have vented this frustration slowly over the past 30 years. To be honest, I don’t necessarily care whether you’re a Democrat or Republican (unless you assume that everyone who aligns differently than you should leave America), I don’t care whether you support universal healthcare plans or not - though I hope you do care that the system is broken and something needs to change. 

And I care whether or not we’re mindlessly spreading hysteria because Glenn Beck or Sean Hannity (or if you don’t live in Texas, Keith Olbermann) have given us their word that its true. 

There are a lot of serious things that need to be decided regarding healthcare and the economy and any number of other things. And we have got to be able to talk about it like big boys and girls. A friend of mine posted a link to this article, which is at least an attempt to wade through some of the fear tactics that have people so worked up these days. 

You may still oppose the health care reform options being discussed. That’s fine - I’m still trying to sort through the details myself. But please disagree because you think it won’t work - not because the President and a band of zombies are going to eat grandma's brains while burning churches and confiscating our guns.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled brainwashing.